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The best way to welcome the new year is with plain and simple good food. We’re reminded every day that Singapore is never short of that, from the trusty hawker shops to swanky luxury restaurants.

In this week’s food highlights, we see restaurants taking a retrospective look at tradition, at humble beginnings and giving it all a modern, innovative twist.

There’s much to reimagine and reinvent, and when’s a better time to do this than the last few weeks of 2018?

Crispy rye noodles at Skai

Skai’s rendition of crispy noodles. (Photo: Skai)

The dish: A staple at most zichar restaurants, fried crispy noodles get a fancy reinvention at Skai, which shapes them into a nest topped with a wobbly onsen egg, maitake purée and black truffle. A dashi-based broth of girolle, maitake and oyster mushrooms is then poured over the noodles, soaking them in earthy, umami-packed flavours. This dish is the brainchild of executive chef Paul Hallat, who helms the kitchen at Skai.

The place: This establishment sits in the space previously occupied by Equinox restaurant, and focuses on Josper-grilled prime beef cuts alongside seafood dishes inflected with Japanese flavours. With its 70th floor locale, Skai offers glorious, sweeping views of the city skyline.

The dish: Veal osso buco, or Italian-style braised veal shank, is stuffed into tortelli and perched atop a nutty cannellini bean purée. Every forkful is a delightful juxtaposition of textures, and made even more enjoyable with the addition of parmesan and aromatic shaved black truffles. This dish is part of Dolce Vita’s à la carte menu, created by its new Chef de Cuisine Giorgio Maggioni.

The place: Dolce Vita is an elegant Italian restaurant with a breezy, laid-back vibe and cheerful colour palette of blue and earth tones. It’s located at Mandarin Oriental Singapore and is a particularly beautiful dining venue in the day, thanks to the abundant sunlight spilling in through its floor-to-ceiling windows.

The dish: Jumbo Seafood has introduced a dim sum menu for the first time at its latest ION Orchard branch. Expect unique creations featuring the brand’s long-time signature, the chilli crab, one of which is a basket of pan-fried buns packed with real crab meat and sweet chilli sauce. If you’re not one for the messy aftermath of peeling crabs, this dish is a more elegant and delicious option.

The place: Initially a zichar restaurant, Jumbo Seafood has expanded over the years into a restaurant chain. Its latest foray to ION Orchard takes a more upscale approach with the introduction of dim sum lunches and high teas. The menu also features modern takes on dim sum, such as steamed rice rolls with laksa and prawn dumplings with truffle.